Battle of Cape Matapan - British & Australian Part 2

In part one of this short series we looked the models representing the heavy units of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy at the Battle of Cape Matapan, in particular the battleships and cruisers. In this second part I briefly consider the allied destroyers. 

At Matapan there were three Royal Navy destroyer flotillas, specifically the 2nd, 10th and 14th Destroyer Flotillas. In total some 13 destroyers.

Of these three the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla was the largest with six vessels under command of Captain H. St. L. Nicolson. The vessels comprised HMS Ilex, HMS Hasty, HMS Hereward, HMS Havock, HMS Hotspur and HMAS Vendetta. Of these four  were of the H Class, specifically HMS Hasty, Herewood, Havock and Hotspur. Each was armed with four 4.7" guns and eight 21" torpedoes. HMS Ilex was an I Class destroyer, which was an improved H Class. Ilex carried the same main gun armament, but her torpedo armament was increased to ten. All were completed between 1936 and 1937. 

The final vessel of the flotilla was somewhat older. HMAS Vendetta was originally completed in 1917 and served in the Royal Navy until in 1933 when it transferred to the Royal Australian Navy. HMAS Vendetta had four 4" guns and six torpedoes. Engine troubles resulted in her playing little part in the battle. Above and below two views of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla. 

The 10th Destroyer Flotilla comprised three vessels and was commanded by Captain H.M.L. Waller, Royal Australian Navy. Waller commanded from HMAS Stuart, a Scott Class destroyer leader. HMS Stuart entered service in the Royal Navy in late 1918 and like Vendetta transferred to Australian service in 1933. She was armed with five 4.7" guns and six 21" torpedoes in two triple mounts. Also in the 10th Destroyer Flotilla was HMS Greyhound and HMS Griffen. These were G Class destroyers completed in 1936. They mounted four 4.7" gun though each torpedo mount comprised four torpedoes. Below, the 10th Destroyer Flotilla.

The final destroyer flotilla was 14th commanded by Captain P.J. Mack. It contained four destroyers. The first two were HMS Jervis and HMS Janus, both J-class destroyers. They were supported by two Tribal class vessels, HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian. 

The destroyers in the foreground below are HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian, those to the rear Jervis and Janus. When this photo was taken the ship labels had not been applied.

The J-class had a strong torpedo armament, some ten torpedo tubes in total in two launchers of five, supporting a gun armament of six 4.7" guns in three turrets. In contrast the Tribal-class destroyers carried fewer torpedoes, only four in a single mount. They however carried a larger gun armament, some eight 4.7" guns in four turrets. It will be interesting to contrast the two on the table.

It would be remiss of me to not illustrate the two Australian destroyers together. HMAS Stuart and HMAS Vendetta as noted above were old vessels. 

As such they were nicknamed, along with two other Australian destroyers, as the "Scrap Iron Flotilla" by Joseph Goebbels. Yet, in true Australian form this designation was used with pride. Both served in the Mediterranean and later in the Pacific, with both surviving the war. Above, HMAS Stuart and HMAS Vendetta under fire.

All the miniatures here are from Navwar's 1/3000th range.